Welcome to Week 8! We’ve made peace with our BLITZ Predictions for this week after a stellar 10-1 week of picks.

Our Game of the Week is Union County at North Hall in a pivotal Region 7-AAA matchup. North Hall has two region wins already over Fannin and Lumpkin, but Union is currently 0-3 in region play. That has much to do with the fact that the Panthers have faced the three toughest opponents in 7-AAA in #2-ranked GAC, one of the state’s top offensive juggernauts in East Hall and previously #9-ranked Dawson County.

Playing all three in succession and losing all three has senior QB Cole Wright, head coach Brian Allison and the Panthers ready to snap the streak and get back on track. While the Panthers have their easiest three games last, North Hall has it’s toughest three last.

Our Prediction: Union beats North Hall going into its bye week, and wins out with Fannin and Lumpkin in final two weeks.

WEEK 0 – Chestatee vs North Hall
WEEK 1 – #5 Rabun vs #9 Mt. Pisgah
WEEK 2 – Habersham Central vs White
WEEK 3 – White vs #3 Rabun
WEEK 4 – Habersham Central vs Stephens
WEEK 5 – Habersham Central vs Chestatee
WEEK 6 – Dawson vs North Hall
WEEK 7 – Gainesville vs Habersham Central

Here’s the info you need for Week 8:

TIME: 7:30 pm kickoff
PLACE: The Brickyard (North Hall High School in Gainesville, GA)
LAST MEETING: Union won 35-32 in a shootout in Blairsville in 2016
ALL-TIME RECORD: Union County 4, North Hall 0
RECORDS: Union County (4-3; 0-3); North Hall (2-5; 2-1)

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

The Trojans have never beaten the Panthers in four previous meetings. Last year presented the closest they’d get, falling 35-32 in Blairsville. Prior to that, however, the two squared off only three other times: 1957 (32-0 Union), 1966 (20-0 Union) and 1967 (38-6 Union).

TEAM LEADERS/PLAYERS to WATCH (stats according to MaxPreps)

UNION COUNTY:

PASSING
Cole Wright: 1,072 yds, 15 TD (54% passing)
Parker Allison: 224 yds, 4 TD (74% passing)

RUSHING
Cole Wright: 680 yds, 9 TD
Chad Buzzard: 487 yds, 3 TD
Cole Dockery: 181 yds, 3 TD

RECEIVING
Sawyer Drake: 378 yds, 6 TD
Kanon Hemphill: 167 yds, 3 TD
Austin Pattee: 160 yds, 2 TD
Logan Dyer: 160 yds, TD
Chayton Schafer: 132 yds, TD
Kyle Morlock: 110 yds, 4 TD

TACKLES
Jackson Colwell: 64 tackles, 1 TFL
RJ Banton: 51 tackles, 1 TFL

SACKS
Bryan Nelson: 2 sacks
3 Others: 1 sack

INTERCEPTIONS
Noah Underwood: 1 INT

NORTH HALL:

PASSING
David Seavy: 573 yds, 2 TD (65% passing)

RUSHING
Jack Brown: 412 yds, 4 TD
Peyton Mavity: 395 yds, 3 TD
Daniel Jackson: 177 yds, 2 TD
Cutter Sanford: 137 yds, TD

RECEIVING
Noah Holman: 202 yds
Cutter Sanford: 161 yds
Daniel Jackson: 126 yds, TD